Not QUITE Forgotten Even Now

A while back, I published THIS post about the greatest forgotten moment in sports history - the Olympic victory of the 1936 University of Washington crew over Nazi Germany and Italy. As it turns out, as in many stories, one could say "but wait, there's more!"

Now, there's an excellent book about the 1936 Husky Crew entitled "The Boys in the Boat." One thing I never knew before was that the coxswain, Bobby Moch was born and raised about 30 miles from Ocean Shores. Adopted, he was told he was Jewish right before he was leaving to row in the Nazi Olympics. What a time to get told something like this! Perhaps fittingly, he represented the United States when he stood upon the winner's podium to accept the gold medal on behalf of the crew. I do not know if they ever told Hitler about Bobby's background.

Afterwards, coach Jim Ten Eyck of Syracuse said "It's the greatest eight I ever saw, and I never expect to see another like it." And Eyck saw a LOT of crews.

Perhaps the greatest tribute to the Washington program came when Oxford ordered a shell to be used against Cambridge from George Pocock, the builder of the Husky boats.

And wait, there's still at least one more thing. Their boat, the "Husky Clipper" still hangs in a place of honor at the Rowing Center at the University of Washington. Each year, new recruits gather underneath it. At the end of the speech about the rowing heritage at the UW, the coach pauses, raises his hand, and points up at the Clipper before telling THAT story.

I'm told that "The Boys in the Boat" is going to be made into a movie. I guess it's more or less a "Chariots of Fire" - with oars. Certainly, it'll be one of the best competitive rowing movies ever made...

Can We Get Along?

Triathletes Complete the First Leg - Swimming in Duck Lake

Last weekend I was struck by the irony of the fractious nature of people that ride bikes. While I’m not going to name specific blogs here, some that I read regularly seem to get joy out of deriding people that ride ebikes, or that ride recumbent bikes, or that mountain bike, that drive their bikes to ride, or that blade skate as somehow “lower” than people that ride “regular bikes.” Some also ridicule others for either riding their bikes in particular ways on our roads or for NOT riding their bikes in the exact same manner.

This Looks as Confused as a Rest Stop at the HH100!

I haven’t been immune to this, as I was reminded last weekend. You see, there was a triathlon up here in Ocean Shores. I’m not alone in viewing triathletes on bikes with a bit of suspicion (go here or here or here) and this view wasn’t totally unfounded as I watched triathletes that lacked any real bike handling capability attempt to ride their megabuck bikes, or read Witch on a Bicycle recount a recent triathlete who was killed by running into a parked car. Upon reflection, however, just as people going to car shows, or riding brevets, or playing golf, they were having fun. Nowadays, our society allows us to have fun in all sorts of ways. Like bike commuting, or charity rides. We should not forget that while some of us ride our bikes for transportation, for most in places like the USA, we do that at least partly by choice. Riding a bike for a transportation choice is really not a lot different than riding one for a recreational or sporting choice.



A Less Charitable Blog Would Use this Photo to Comment on Whether Triathletes Know What to Do With a Bike as they Leave the "Bike Pick Up" Area

Course Worker Directs the Triathletes at the First Corner

Almost all of us use the road system to go places. Even triathletes. Let's remember that riding a bike really IS fun and safe. Even ebikes and triathlons!

Proof that Triathletes CAN Turn on a Bike!

Greatest Forgotten Moment in Sports History



Even the U of W has Forgotten This Proud Moment

PaddyAnne prompted this post. She humorously mentioned curling as a means to help with ice biking. THAT reminded me of the 2010 Winter Olympics, in which "Team Bernard" took on the rest of the world and brought home a silver medal for Canada in women's curling. I dearly wish they'd managed to get the gold, but it was not to be in 2010. Still, it represented an approach to sports that has largely disappeared. The era when it was not simply government teams, but individual teams that got to compete. An era such as in "Chariots of Fire," when athletes competed as much for their school or locality as for their country.

This prompted my recollection of the "greatest forgotten moment in Sports History." The day the University of Washington Crew beat Nazi Germany.

We all know about Jesse Owens beating the Nazis in "the Hitler Olympics," but few remember other events in which Adolf was upstaged. My own favorite was the victory of the Husky crew over Germany and Italy. The English were involved as well, but they didn't win a medal. The Huskies beat the world.

To make a long story less long, the Huskies came, and they won. The video shows the ways that progaganda tries to spin things after the fact. I suggest watching the first few seconds, and then fast forward to the part after a minute into the video. In all fairness to the Germans, they DO play part of the US National Anthem at the end. Go Dawgs!

This is a reason why one of the acquisitions that I plan, but have yet to make, is a single-seat scull. In the one and only time I called in to a radio talk show, when the Seahawks were on their way to a loss in the Superbowl, I prompted faint recollections of this event. Others also still remember occasionally such as below:

Obituary of the Last Husky Crew Member who Passed Away in 2009 - Seattle Times

Seattle Olympics - You can see the Husky crew GOLD amongst all the highlights if you look

Despite the Picture at top, the crew is not TOTALLY forgotten even at the UW

"Germany, Italy, and Britain all moved ahead, with the leader, Germany, at least a length up. Fighting the quartering headwind in lane six, the Huskies began to increase the stroke rate. Finally, with about 500 meters left in the race the lakeshore changed, disrupting the lee in which Germany and Italy were racing. The quartering headwind was now evenly felt, at about the instant Hume and his crew began to sprint. By now we know what happens when this crew would sprint, and the confidence they had in each other; every race in 1936 this crew had fallen behind, only to gain it back. The last 200 meters were a blur, with Hume bringing the stroke rate up to an unheard of 44, the crowd chanting "Deutsch-land, Deutsch-land, Deutsch-land", and yet it was in that last 200 meters that the United States went from third to first, crossing the line about ten feet in front of Italy, with Germany third.

"The exhausted crew rowed in front of the grandstand, then to the dock, where a wreath was placed over the head of each oarsman and the coxswain. There were no interviews. The men stayed in their quarters that night. The next day they received their medals in the Olympic stadium; after the games were over, they went home various ways, some choosing to travel Europe, others going straight home.

"Historically speaking, the 1936 Washington crew would have been memorable without the Olympic victory. By sweeping the Hudson for the first time, the crew established itself as the deepest to date; with the varsity coming from lengths back in the last half mile, it established itself as one of the strongest.

"But with the almost surreal Olympic victory in pre-war Germany, the crew became legendary. And although the story itself seems to have a life of it's own - every perspective is different, and the years blur some of the details - the fact remains that this is the first Husky eight-oared crew to complete their season as undefeated National Champions - and - World and Olympic champions. And forever will they hold that honor."

If you watch the German propaganda video below, I suggest you watch the first several seconds to get a feel for the tone, then fast forward to a minute into it, where the "big eight" race is about to begin. After a lot of German rowing, somehow the Huskies suddenly win a bit after three minutes into the video as the crowd chants "Deutschland, Deutschland." Regardless of Husky Pride, I salute the 2010 Women's Canadian Curling Team. A throwback to a bygone era. Team Bernard! Go Canada! Alberta!
x

UW Beats the Nazis in Germany in 1936.

I Wish "Team Bernard" Could Have Repeated the Moment in Canada in 2010

Sill, IMO, the Greatest Forgotten Moment - They Even Play "The Star Spangled Banner" a little in this German Video

In all seriousness, it is not the numbers of people that pay attention that measure greatness, nor even the final record. Greatness is within each of us. Ignore the Husky crew if you will, but watch the video below and remember. We were all to young to see the Huskies win. The last Husky crew member is now gone, but we can all remember the Alberta women of 2010 and how they almost beat the world. Regardless, y'all would be wise not to make fun of curling in front of me...
x

At the Moment I Posted THIS Video, It Had Seen 224 Total Views in Over Three Months. Hardly Viral. A Future Greatest Forgotten Moment in Sports History?

MY Motorists

Alfa Romeo Tubulare Zagato,

Monterey Historic Races, 1979

Campagnolo Toe Clips

More Italian Elegance

Mostly, I like reading bike blogs, but I find it disturbing when I sense an "us versus them" element running through posts. I don't think there is really such a thing as "bike culture," unless you count some of the bike clubs and that aspect. In truth, car and bike enthusiasm very often runs together, both of them fueled by the same enthusiasm for the beauty and functionality of the machines we build to help us get around, and from the joy of travel on the open road. I don't think it's any accident that most of the great bicycle manufacturing companies originate in the same countries that house great automobile enthusiasm. Italy is a case in point. France is another. On the other hand, countries that treat their bikes as the drudge transportation equivalents of washing machines (with apologies to Graham Aubree), design cars the same way. When Detroit was building the Roadmaster Stationwagon, Schwinn was building bikes using the same design philosophy. At both companies, small factions produced something more; the Corvette and Paramount, respectively.

MY Motorists don't chat on their cell phones while they sip their lattes. MY Motorists have an overwhelming and enduring enthusiasm for the PROCESS of motoring. When I drive my E-type Jaguar, I'm not concerned about how long it takes to get to the corner grocery store. I may go there by way of Oklahoma. When I ride, one treat is the opportunity to stop and chat with people driving special interest cars, who are clearly not just out to do the daily errands. Similarly, when I'm riding for recreation, I'm not concerned so much with exactly the route I'm taking, but I still like to take whatever route I'm taking FAST, and WELL. John Forester notes in EFFECTIVE CYCLING that engineers are overrepresented in cycling ranks. Well, they're overrepresented in car clubs as well. A surprising fraction of these like cars AND bikes. I count myself as such. Another car/bike enthusiast recently passed away. Albert Cohen, Alfa Romeo enthusiast, owner of AUTO DELTA, INC, and cycling enthusiast, passed away December 22. The obituary may be found here. I believe his death stems from a cycling crash that occurred in 1996.

Antonio Ascari

The spirit of MY motorists may be summarized by a short excerpt from Hull & Slater's Alfa book:
"Antonio Ascari died shortly afterwards in an ambulance on the way to hospital in Paris. He was thirty-seven.  ...when the news of Ascari's death reached the Alfa Romeo  pit, at a time when both {Alfa drivers, including the race leader}happened to be there, the order was given for their engines to be revved up and then silenced for the rest of the day.

"After the race ... drove down to the spot where Ascari had crashed, and laid their victors' garlands of flowers there."



Cohen was MY kind of motorist. Not like the drunk that hit him. Drunks and distracted/incompetent drivers (and bike riders) are not a car or a bike problem. These are people problems. Yes, more civility, and a demand for one's very best effort, would be very nice all around...

Steve DOES Have a Sordid Past

ChipSeal, exhibiting investigative zeal worthy of Woodward and Bernstein hunting down Richard Nixon, uncovered a photo that he posted on his blog. It's shown HERE. Taking a page from David Letterman, I have decided to make a full and complete confession rather than be subject to outrageous blackmail payment demands.

It's true. All of it. And a bit more besides (actually, a fair amount more). We WON that Horner Award, and another one two years later. We kicked Florida butt to get it - so my association with Florida predates CommuteOrlando. And we still have Felix, complete with its Washington State license plates (the actual plate number is different due to state replacement requirements). It's the photo for this post.

There, y'all happy now? Those durn Aussies! And, in support of a post I made on this blog, here, the weight change was NOT due to cycling. It was thanks to Dr Atkins. All the cycling did was to minimize regain of the weight. And I did NOT do anything inappropriate with that woman, Monica Lewinsky, either!

I just consider it fortunate that even the most determined sleuth cannot ferret out my connections with Stephan Kassner and the Civil War. I still have one last Horner Award to win - I want to be the first in the Jaguar Club to win that award three times in three different cars. But it won't happen this year. Probably not next year either...

Quiz #2 in the Spirit of the Tour

My candidate for greatest road race cyclist. No prizes other than satisfaction on this one and I imagine many have their own candidates. His bona fides follow:

• Finished on the podium in seven Tours de France - every one he ever finished
• Only cyclist ever to have won all three Grand Tour events more than once
• Over 200 victories in 12 years
• Still active in the cycle racing world
• Born two months and two days after me

I guess that last rules out Eddy & Lance. Still haven't figured it out? More hints

• Ranked 2nd all-time by Daniel Marszalek - only Eddy ranks higher (Lance is #15 which seems a tad low in my book)
• Last Frenchman to win the Tour de France
• Team mate with Greg LeMond for his last TdF win, and for Greg's first
• Asked if he feared Eddy "Cannibal" Merckx, he replied "He has a head, two arms, two legs, just as I"
• And, for ChipSeal's benefit, a quote - "As long as I breathe, I attack."

Give up? Answer here.